UAlbany Northeast Regional
Forensic Institute Launches First Regional
DNA AcademyUAlbany program,
supported through the efforts of New York Senator
Charles E. Schumer,
cuts forensic science training time in half to help meet a critical national
shortage

Contact:
Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 16, 2005) -- The University
at Albany's Northeast Regional Forensic Institute
(NERFI) today presented the inaugural class
of its newly established DNA Academy. The class
comprises 12 newly hired forensic scientists
from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory,
who are expected to graduate the Academy in
August, 2005.

The DNA Academy was created by NERFI, a collaborative
partnership between the University at Albany
and the New York State Police Forensic Investigation
Center founded in 2004 with the support of
New York Senator Charles E. Schumer. NERFI
is designed to address a nationwide shortage
of forensic scientists, which has created critical
casework backlogs in labs across the nation.
A study conducted by the University at Albany
in 2002 called for an additional 9,000 new
forensic scientists to address the needs of
the nation's forensic crime laboratories. The
DNA Academy is designed to shorten the conventional
one-on-one mentor training programs from one
year to six months, with a dedicated advanced
forensic training facility, university-approved
curriculum, and a staff of University at Albany
faculty and nationally renowned visiting scientists.
Students successfully completing the DNA Academy
will earn 12 graduate credits and meet all
mandated state, national and international
accreditation standards for forensic laboratories.

The DNA Academy will continue to train future
classes of Massachusetts State Police, and
will contract with other police agencies in
the coming months.

"Forensic science is the new frontier
for law enforcement, and this DNA Academy is
a pioneer in providing the top-quality training
so important for the field. I am so pleased
to see the $1.5 million in federal funding
for the Northeast Regional Forensic Institute
being put to work so effectively to enhance
law enforcement's ability to fight crime," said
Senator Schumer, who secured the federal appropriation
in 2003.

"The establishment of the Academy is
a significant step forward for law enforcement
and for the University," said UAlbany
President Kermit L. Hall. "We are grateful
for the vision and leadership of Senator Schumer
in the establishment of this institute. The
academy is a rigorous program that showcases
the University's strengths in both chemistry
and the biological sciences, and demonstrates
our commitment to meeting the demands of an
evolving society."

NERFI was created by a 2004 National Institute
of Justice grant. The National Institute of
Justice is the research, development and evaluation
arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. The
grant designated $1.5 million for joint use
of the University at Albany and the New York
State Police Forensic Investigation Center
to address a critical and ongoing need for
highly trained, case-ready forensic laboratories
technical personnel.

"DNA technology promises to be the most
remarkable crime-fighting tool of the 21st
century," said Sarah Hart, Director of
the National Institute of Justice. "The
President's (George W. Bush) DNA Initiative,
a five-year $1 billion investment, will ensure
that younger generations of forensic scientists
will be trained to help solve crimes with DNA.
The Department of Justice is committed to making
DNA technology a routine part of investigations,
and to keeping the public safe by allowing
criminal justice resources to pursue the guilty
and exonerate the innocent."

"The enrollment response for our forensics
programs in biology and chemistry has been
immediate, and the DNA Academy is a natural
extension of those programs to serve another
audience. I am gratified that the College of
Arts and Sciences has the capacity to prepare
these much-needed scientists for their careers," said
Joan Wick-Pelletier, dean of the College. "It
represents an important step toward streamlining
the education process to make the most of our
resources and those of the state police forces
we assist."

The DNA Academy curriculum consists of four
modules that deliver 12 graduate credits hours
of academic course work. Module 1 is an eight-week
distance-learning component that provides the
latest theories of forensic DNA technologies.
Modules 2 and 3 consist of eight weeks of laboratory
instruction held at the University at Albany,
employing a "Mirror Laboratory" that
utilizes the latest forensic laboratory technologies.
The students will analyze evidentiary samples
that are identical to the items received at
crime scenes and submitted to forensic laboratories
-- for example, bloodstains on all types of
substrates will be recognized, collected, amplified
and analyzed by identical instruments and techniques
used in forensic laboratories. A moot court
course will then be used to measure and train
the court-room testifying competency of all
students as per national accreditation guidelines.

The program concludes with a fourth module,
a four-week distance-learning component that
instructs students in advanced techniques and
report writing. Individual segments of the
program will also be used to provide professional
development programs that are mandated by legislative
accreditation criteria. The graduates of the
program will be competent to analyze a variety
of evidentiary items routinely submitted for
DNA analyses when they return to their home
laboratories.

"Education is the key to quality in
forensic science," said NERFI Interim
Director W. Mark Dale. "The DNA Academy
is raising the bar on forensic education programs
by having the students earn 12 graduate credit
hours after completion of the academy."

The University at Albany was the first in
the Northeast to deliver a 40-credit graduate
program in forensic molecular biology and currently
enrolls forensic chemistry students within
the Bachelor of Science degree program. The
curriculum from the forensic molecular biology
program provided the courseware framework for
the DNA Academy. Thirty-five students are enrolled
in forensic molecular biology and the program,
now in its third year, placed graduates in
private laboratories, public laboratories,
and doctoral programs.

The University at Albany's broad mission of
excellence in undergraduate and graduate
education, research and public service
engages more than 16,000 diverse students
in nine degree-granting schools and colleges.
For more information about this internationally
ranked institution, visit www.albany.edu.
For UAlbany's extensive roster of faculty experts,
visit www.albany.edu/news/experts.htm.